De-funding the veep

House Democrats are moving forward with a vote on de-funding the office of the vice president, even though it appears that Dick Cheney and his staff are backing off the claim that they are part of the legislative branch. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D) says he will put forward an amendment tomorrow that would strip the $4.7 million funding Cheney's executive branch operations ($4.4 for the office of the VP, $300,000 for his residence at the Naval Observatory).

The vote comes on the annual bill that funds Treasury, the offices of the president and the vice president, and several other federal agencies.

As NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reported yesterday, Cheney's office has implied that they will no longer use the argument that they are part of the legislative branch as a means to avoid document security checks, owing to the veep's position as president of the Senate. Having said that, they are still stiffing the National Archives.

The veep's operations are also funded through the defense spending bill (Air Force II, etc.) and the legislative branch spending bill (president of the Senate). These streams will not be touched, for now. It's unclear whether Emanuel's measure will pass. It's still being written.